Outsource without breaking the bank

Name: Peter Bendor-Samuel Title: CEOCompany: Outsourcing Center, DallasGoal: "To make outsourcing more accessible, of better quality, and reduce transaction costs for both the buyer and seller."

Going outside the corporate walls for direct marketing and database services ought not to be as complicated as it is. And it shouldn’t cost millions of dollars, according to Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Outsourcing Center, a developer of Internet processes for outsourcing contracts.

Using Outsourcing Center’s site, companies such as State Farm Insurance Cos., Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce World Markets and Halliburton Co. have already negotiated contracts for as little as $500,000.

"We’re seeing more and more outsourcing of marketing and sales, where a new company might be moving into a new product area and needs immediate penetration," Bendor-Samuel said. "If you outsource your core competency, you’ll wind up chewing your arm off to get out of that trap. But direct and database marketing is not often a company’s core competency."

The Outsourcing Center charges the supplier of outsourced services a fee ranging between 0.25% to 4% of the total buy. That added up to about $10 million in revenue in 2000. More growth is expected as the company plans to open a European office.